IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT JOINING THE REGISTRY
You can register as a volunteer bone marrow donor if you are a permanent resident of Cyprus, between the ages of 18 and 45, in good health and with no history of infectious diseases, cancer or heart disease.
Registering as a volunteer donor is purely voluntary and altruistic and you have the right to change your mind at any time. You will be listed in the registry until your 60th birthday, unless you ask to be removed prior to that.
Nobody can force you to join the registry or proceed to a bone marrow donation. However, it is very important to be well informed because if you decide to withdraw during the donation procedure, especially aſter the patient begins the therapy for accepting the graſt it may put the patient’s life in danger.
It is important that you are willing to help any patient regardless of his/her race, ethnicity or religion. According to the Foundation’s policy, donor registration for a specific patient is accepted only in the case of first degree relatives.
The expected risk of donating a graſt is minimal. To avoid any serious complications you will undergo a thorough medical examination before proceeding to the donation.
Throughout the process of donation and subsequent procedures, there will be full anonymity between the donor and the patient. You will not be compensated nor burdened financially in any way for your voluntary action. The only benefit of your donation is the invaluable moral satisfaction of saving a life.
REGISTRATION
To register as a volunteer bone marrow donor please refer to Karaiskakio Foundation or the blood bank of the General Hospital of your city. You will need to fill out the Donor Registration Form and give a small amount of blood for tissue typing.
If you have already registered as a volunteer donor you do not need to register again. You may call the Karaiskakio Foundation at 22772700 to verify that you are listed in the registry.
The Karaiskakio Foundation has received funding under the Norwegian Financial Mechanism in the Programming Period 2009-2014, for upgrading part of its infrastructure, advancement of expertise on the subject, promotion of public awareness and enhancement the bone marrow donor registry in Cyprus. Aiming to improve public health and reduce health inequalities, through the proposed project, the Karaiskakio Foundation has enhanced its local health infrastructure with the establishment of a state-of-the art, specialised Childhood Cancer Diagnostic Laboratory which provides diagnostic support to the paediatric and other cancer patients.
The establishment of the Childhood Cancer Diagnostic Laboratory contributes towards:
• Technological progress in the diagnostic field and better understanding of cancer pathology, improvement of patient health and reduction of health inequalities
• Integrated and comprehensive analysis at the early stage of disease identification and classification, management, and treatment
• Structured, systematic and comprehensive laboratory support to patients, hence minimizing the time needed for diagnosis
• Opportunities to young scientists to excel in the field of cancer, invest in people through education
• Increase Social Awareness on cancer.
A parallel objective of the project is the enhancement of the Bone Marrow Donor Registry with new volunteer donors. The challenge is to find the means to attract and to cultivate the feeling of altruism in young adults, through modern means of communication (e.g., apps, social media, self-service stations, short videos etc).
The project further enhances the collaboration of the Greek Cypriot and the Turkish Cypriot Communities in Cyprus.
The Karaiskakio Foundation is already engaged in bi-communal collaboration through the Cyprus Bone Marrow Donor Registry, the greatest in significance and size bi-communal project since 1974. The Kemal Saracoglu Association (a Turkish Cypriot NGO) actively supports the Karaiskakio Foundation in contacting donors and serves as a contact point to help Turkish Cypriot patients and physicians to access the services of the Foundation. Furthermore, the Karaiskakio Foundation is providing both diagnostic and donor search services free of charge to all leukaemia and cancer patients from both the Greek and the Turkish Cypriot community.